Led Zeppelin — Led Zeppelin

Long time no listen. “Good Times Bad Times,” the first song on the first Led Zeppelin album, is probably my favorite of all their music. When I see how young the guys look on the back it’s even more impressive how out there this record is. Another favorite is “Communication Breakdown.” It’s more punk than the punk music that would come along almost a decade later. I liked it so much as a punk rock teenager that I recorded my own cover of it on my Tascam Porta One cassette four track. I played all the tracks and did a good job on drums and bass. My guitar work was not uh… scintillating. And I’m pretty sure the vocals were an octave lower out of genetic necessity.

Note on the back cover:

This is a stereo recording. For best results observe the R.I.A.A. high frequency roll-off characteristic with a 500 cycle crossover.

But of course.

More about Led Zeppelin at Wikipedia

MC5 — Kick Out The Jams

• Artist: MC5
• Title: Kick Out The Jams
• Year: 1969
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1984 ? Maybe later. I think I might have bought it in the UK, even though it was a US release, and that would be dumb.
• Keeper: Yes

“Kick Out The Jams…” No, not that one, unfortunately. I have a later release where the offensive, to some, language was replaced with “brothers and sisters.” It’s a laughably clumsy sounding edit to boot. The voices have completely different room sounds. But at least my version has the gloriously Metallic/Psychedelic gatefold album cover.

Everybody knows the title track, but my favorite may just be the show opener on this in-concert record, “Rambling Rose.” The whole record/show is so intense and frenzied, so heavy at times, it’s hard to believe it happened in 1969. Thank God it did.